


breathe deep

by Waistcoat35



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Fluff, Ironically I wrote this at like 4am while refusing to let myself fall asleep lmao, M/M, Please god let him rest, Richard Ellis is a good husband, Richard being patient and a little bit scheming, Schmoop, Short & Sweet, Sleepy Cuddles, Thomas being stubborn, tired Thomas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29614374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waistcoat35/pseuds/Waistcoat35
Summary: Thomas is stubborn and won't let himself fall asleep. Richard Ellis is a master of the long game.
Relationships: Thomas Barrow/Richard Ellis
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	breathe deep

**Author's Note:**

> For context this is set when Richard and Thomas have left service and live together in a little townhouse. Might not be compliant with any other leaving service fics I write because I came up with most of the details here on the spot. I hope you enjoy this, sorry I've been AWOL lately!!
> 
> Dedicated to qetbackhonkycat because it is her DMs this got hurled into at four in the morning <3

Richard is reading his book on the sofa with Thomas doing his crossword beside him, and when he glances up he notices Thomas squinting at the clues more and more until he finally closes the paper and puts it on the coffee table. 'Tired?' Richard asks, testing, and sees the tell-tale stubborn set to the jaw, the determined look.

'No,' Thomas says in a tone that is meant, clearly, to be airy and casual. It reads as mildly defensive. 'Just finished with the crossword for the night.'

'Course,' Richard says. 'Must get tiresome after too long. Especially when there's a few you get stuck on.' Thomas relaxes a bit, seemingly content that Richard believes him. (He doesn't.) 'Come here,' Richard suggests, and Thomas looks at him, confused and slightly guarded.

'Why?'

'I've gotten to a good bit in this. If you're done with your puzzle for the night you can listen to some of this. Save you getting bored watching me do nothing.' It sounds innocent enough - although suspicious by nature Thomas is tired and less alert than he could be, and these days it doesn't take much coaxing for him to trust Richard enough to take him at his word.

His shoulders slacken. 'Alright,' Thomas concedes, looking pleased to be included.

Richard pats his side. 'Come on,' he says coaxingly. 'I can hold the book with one hand, you know.' Thomas never turns down a cuddle, and it turns out to be his weakness. He shifts until he's draped over Richard, tucked cosily between his side and the back of the sofa, one arm under himself and the other loosely around Richard's torso. Although he's still the cooler of the two, he feels warm from the fireside even through his shirt, his head on Richard's chest a welcome weight, legs slightly tangled with his.

'There you are,' Richard softly says, quiet and pleased. 'Nice and comfy.' Thomas blinks slowly at him, almost catlike, and Richard decides to continue before he gets too distracted. True to his word, he does read from the book for a good while, finishing that chapter, moving on to the next. It's one of his mysteries, the same blue paperbacks sold at the newsagents since possibly the dawn of time. Thomas brings him one home every week - he helps at the local antiques market on Sundays, an assistant evaluator (he knows his clocks, after all, and the way people look to him for expertise and trust the answers he gives them makes fond pride swell in Richard's chest) and once the stalls pack up in the early afternoon he takes his pay and finds Richard a new detective novel when he stops at the corner shop on the way home. He leaves them on the kitchen table the way some men would bring their partners flowers, and when Richard finds them he seeks Thomas out to kiss him in thanks. (Richard _does_ buy his partner flowers, and is thanked by the blush across Thomas' cheekbones when he does.)

After another three chapters Thomas is very nearly gone, eyelids drooping, eyes closing for longer after every blink, but if he catches Richard looking he forces them open again, almost giving himself a little shake awake. _I do wish you'd be gentler with yourself,_ Richard thinks. Between nightmares and plain old insomnia - and sometimes simply the fact that Thomas' body clock tends to forget he's no longer in service and lets him wake up at dawn - he's been tired lately, and is far too hard on himself for it. The hand that has been curving softly around Thomas' side - Richard hadn't risked leaving it to massage Thomas' neck, because he seems more stubborn about falling asleep tonight and he had needed to play a long game rather than making Thomas suspicious - begins to move upwards again, across Thomas' shoulder, bypassing his nape and resting atop his head. Richard soothes it up and down, smoothing soft, floppy dark hair from Thomas' forehead.

'Come on,' he coaxes, ever so gently. 'Just give in. Why don't you ever give in, you silly thing? Hmm?' Thomas just stares him down, acting like he's chosen not to answer but likely too drowsy to speak and have it make much sense. Richard smiles and shakes his head, goes back to reading. He keeps the hair stroking up at the same time, however, and is not disappointed. It seems his voice and the touching is the magic combination needed to get Thomas to give in and nod off, because next time he looks Thomas has well and truly drooped against him, chin no longer propped up, only a tiny sliver of a glinting eye caught by the firelight showing Thomas is awake at all. The smile on Richard's face now would probably be described as the soppiest thing witnessed by man. 'There you go,' he soothes, ceasing the hair stroking to just smooth little circles into Thomas' scalp with his thumb. 'You can let yourself rest.' He knows he's won now, Thomas too far gone to protest, and he slides his book down onto the coffee table. No need to mark his place - he's been so preoccupied watching Thomas he'll have to go back to where he was before anyway.


End file.
